In this issue:
* STATEMENT BY NEW FORCE COMMANDER OF UN OPERATION
* HARGYESA DISARMAMENT
* FOREIGN-SPONSORED "PEACE" CONFERENCES: PART OF THE PROBLEM OR OF
 THE SOLUTION?
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              S O M A L I A  N E W S  U P D A T E

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Vol 3, No 6            February 22, 1994.             ISSN 1103-1999

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Somalia News Update is published irregularly via electronic mail and
fax. Questions can be directed to [email protected] or
to fax number +46-18-151160. All SNU marked material is free to
quote as long as the source is clearly stated.
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STATEMENT BY NEW FORCE COMMANDER OF UN OPERATION

(SNU/UNIC, Uppsala, February 16) - The new Force Commander of the
United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM II), Lieutenant-General
Aboo Samah Bin Aboo Bakar, of Malaysia, after being introduced to the
press at today's noon briefing by the Spokesman for the Secretary-
General, made the following statement:
    "I began my duties as UNOSOM Force Commander on 18 January 1994.
The call of the United Nations on me personally and on my country,
Malaysia, to render service to the people of Somalia and the
international community could not have come at a more critical time
in the involvement of the United Nations in Somalia. My appointment
coincided with the fundamental review of the UNOSOM mandate the
Security Council decided to undertake pursuant to operative paragraph
5 of its resolution 886 (1993), adopted on 18 November 1993.
    The Council, by its resolution 897 (1994), approved a revised
mandate which no longer includes provisions on forcible disarmament
of the various factions in Somalia. The revised mandate, while
maintaining the fundamental role of UNOSOM in protecting major ports,
airports, lines of communication and personnel and equipment,
emphasizes that UNOSOM will assist the Somali people and their
leaders in attaining the goals of political reconciliation,
reconstruction and stability in Somalia. This is a major task which
is not going to be without difficulty, but it can be done if the
Somali people take advantage of this window of opportunity, settle
their differences and move the process of political reconciliation
forward. Then a great deal can be achieved.
    The forces committed by the troop-contributing countries and I
will endeavour to implement fully the mandate of the Security
Council. In the accomplishment of this task, we will no doubt benefit
enormously from the support and understanding of not only the members
of the Security Council and the troop-contributing countries, but
also that of the international community. The goal of the
international community, which undoubtedly coincides with the hopes
of the people of Somalia, is the achievement of national political
reconciliation which would allow for the reconstruction of the
country and rebuilding of its institutions".
    The resigned UN force commander, the Turkish General Bir, last
month called the aborted UNOSOM attempts to disarm the southern
warring factions a "half-measure".


HARGYESA DISARMAMENT

(SNU, Hargeysa, February 22) - The campaign to disarm former militias
in the area surrounding Hargeysa, the capital of the break-away
republic of Somaliland, is continuing. Since President Egal's call
for voluntary disarmament at a rally at the Hargeysa football stadium
last month 22 "technicals" equipped with anti-aircraft guns, 14
artillery pieces, 1 tank, 14 anti-tank guns, and 5 heavy machine guns
have been voluntarily handed over. The personnel in charge of these
weapons, numbering 340, are now voluntarily encamped and are
receiving training to facilitate their reintegration into civilian
life.
    The spokesman for the Somaliland presidency, John Drysdale,
today informed SNU that the weapons collected were in the possession
of five different brigades in the Hargeysa area and that weapons
belonging to two other SNM brigades, Nos. 12 and 3, still remain to
be handed over.


FOREIGN-SPONSORED "PEACE" CONFERENCES: PART OF THE PROBLEM OR OF THE
SOLUTION?

(SNU, Uppsala, February 22) - When a Dutch parliamentary delegation
headed by Mrs. Josephine Verspaget on December 16 last year took part
in the opening ceremony of the so-called "Peace and life" conference
in Garowe in Nugaal region, they may not have understood that part of
the conference's agenda concerned the unresolved dispute over the Sool
and Sanaag regions. The problem is that while the Garowe meeting
called for "regional cooperation", two of the regions invited to
cooperate - Sool and Sanaag - form part of the Somaliland republic,
i.e. the North-western part of Somalia that broke away from the rest
of the country in May 1991. While several locally initiated
conferences, attended by the leaders of clans in the Sool and Sanaag,
have expressed support the secession, some groups related to these
clans remain unconvinced. Other groups, including strong pressure
groups in exile, would like to the see the Sool and Sanaag region
dissociated from the Somaliland republic and joined with the other
regions of the north-eastern part of Somalia.
    The vital issues (see SNU No 4/94) dealt with by the Garowe
meeting notwithstanding, the setting up of mechanisms for regional
security cooperation with part of Somaliland but without the consent
of the Somaliland government is by Hargeysa seen as an intrusion in
the internal affairs of the republic. From the Hargeysa perspective
this infringement is even more serious since it was facilitated by a
Dutch-based NGO, NOVIB, who used their contacts to invite the Dutch
group parliamentary members to attend. A spokesperson for NOVIB,
however, denies that NOVIB had any part except financing in the
setting of the Garowe meeting. "All actual planning was made by one
of our partners, a Somali organization calling themselves the Somali
Peace and Development Society", the NOVIB spokesperson told SNU.

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SNU is an entirely independent newsletter devoted to critical
analysis of the political and humanitarian developments in Somalia
and Somaliland. SNU is edited and published by Dr. Bernhard Helander,
Uppsala University, Sweden. SNU is produced with support from the
Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden.
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